A Look at Disney's Anti-Nazi WWII Propaganda Films

Disney Studios made a large number of training and propaganda films for the Allies during WWII, to be shown to troops and the public. During WWII, there were film production shortages and many production companies chose to produce low budget B-movies and short films, while also supporting the Allied effort by making training and propaganda films for the military. Disney was the U.S. military's go to producer--an incredible 90% of Disney employees were devoted to production of training and propaganda films during the war. Two short films from this period are Education for Death and Stop That Tank, which are examples of propaganda and training films respectively.

Education for Death is based on Gregor Ziemer’s book by the same name.  Ziemer based his book in his observations of in Nazi Germany from 1928-1939. It recounts the methods of Nazi indoctrination of the Hitler Youth. In January 1943, Disney released a short film adaption of Education for Death written by Joe Grant.  The film was directed by Clyde Gernimi and ran just over 10 minutes long.

Education For Death tracks a typical German child’s education from birth to adulthood. The Child is the representation of an average member of Hitler Youth. Through the eyes of the Child, an individual can see the slow dehumanizing process that the Nazis used to indoctrinate children. The Child’s indoctrination begins after birth when his parents go to the Nazi party to register its name. An individual’s name is the foundation stone of who they are and represents the great hope their parents had for them. The Nazis’ practice of name registration and approval is the first step in stripping an individual of their identity. Controlling an individual’s identity is the first key step in the indoctrination process followed by alienation and conformity. A good example of both of these steps is illustrated in the classroom scene in Education for Death.

The Nazi Teacher tells the Child a story about a fox eating a rabbit as part of a lesson on nature. The child shows compassion for the rabbit and is sent to the dunce chair as a punishment. His classmates ridicule him and then the Teacher gives the correct Nazi response. The Teacher in this scene uses negative reinforcement and alienation by sending the Child to the dunce chair. Once alienated, the Child recants his former statements and is allowed to rejoin the group. At this point, the Child has completed his indoctrination in the Nazi ideology. At this point, the Child is putty in Hitler’s hands.

Stop That Tank is a short film that the Canadian Government hired Walt Disney Studios to produce to demonstrate the proper use of a Boys anti-tank rifle. Over 20 minutes long, Tank is more focused on training than Education, but still contains the same red-nosed caricatures of Hitler and a message designed to indoctrinate children against the Third Reich. 

Once indoctrination is complete, propaganda can be used in order to direct a population’s frustration to an external target. This is called objectification of the other and is a powerful tool indoctrination of a population. An example of this is the introduction of Stop That Tank, which shows a Boy’s Anti-Tank squad literally blast Hitler to Hell. In this scene, Hitler is demonized, making him less than human in the eyes of the Canadian Soldiers.

Both films used similar methods of indoctrination in order to prepare Western People for the War. These are just two examples of how Disney supported the Allies' War effort.